Windows 10: After W10 upgrade a month ago the disk is very busy when idle

Dalchina - I am happy to report that the problem is resolved!

I did a number of things yesterday including going through TASK SCHEDULER items one by one and turning off some items; I was also able to disable ONE DRIVE and did several other things to Windows. I turned off so many odd things and had to let the laptop go idle to see if disk usage returned to 100% - finally it stopped running so high. At that point I rebooted to see if my efforts held or not - they did and this is resolved.

Since then I have started turning some things back ON - like disk indexing, Windows Search service, Windows Search Web and Windows (had turned off web search prior) and will continue to monitor and tweak as I go forward.

So sorry I did not make a list of each action and I was dead tired so I cannot say for sure what single item resolved the problem.

However, I have monitored, rebooted and monitored more and the System and Compressed memory is mostly not near the top of the list and when it is the HDD does not go over 4% max.! The laptop is running at normal temps. now.

Thank you for your guidance and suggestions as they helped nudge me to go further into the guts of Win 10 to resolve the problem. It is an indictment of Microsoft's Windows 10 DEFAULTS that require a user to go into the guts to fix something that should not have been broken in the new OS.

Sorry my contribution will likely not be very helpful to others but I can say with certainty it was totally Windows at fault, not drivers, not hardware, not anti-virus, not system and compressed memory, not pagefile size (cannot say for certain on this item) .

Hope your evening finds you in good spirits and having good spirits in you! Cheers Amigo.

 

Good news..thanks for letting us know. However should it recur, it can be very helpful to others who have a similar problem to be able to try a solution.

Hope it goes well. I do recommend regular disk imaging.. as most do here.. esp. with Win 10's frailties.

So here's the faster way and the strongly recommended way by all here to help defend yourself against most problems.. from cryptolocker to (oh no.. user error!).

Start using disk imaging. Regularly. Before any major change, and after a big change or a series of smaller changes. System Restore isn't enough.. it can help sometimes, but only if you turn it on (it's off by default.. absurd).

With disk images you
a. Can restore your disk/partition in a defined time (e.g 20 to 40 mins).
b. Have a full backup - can extract files.
c. Can use them to rebuild your system on a new HDD (e.g.)
d. Have peace of mind (most important!)

Get a copy of Macrium Reflect or Veeam Endpoint Backup (both have free options). The first is more geeky and a cut down version of a commercial product - no incremental backup. The 2nd is more straightforward, offering both differential and incremental backups. (You can read about those yourself if unsure).

Make sure you create the boot disk.. essential when dealing with an unbootable PC.
You need large enough external storage for the image files.
c. Can use them to rebuild your system on a new HDD (e.g.)
d. Have peace of mind (most important!)

 

Thanks for sharing that information on imaging. I have been using Acronis True Image Home for years now with great success. I will admit the user interface has been difficult for even advanced users though the 2016 version has improved the user interface a lot.

I make a monthly full image on all 3 PCs to an external drive across the network for 2 PCs and locally attached to the primary PC. Every 4th month the oldest gets deleted. I also ensure that the image backup is validated after each use (useful setting option). That ensures the image is not corrupted.

Likewise, making a Recovery disk is critical and yes, over the last few years I have restored full drive images on at least 6 occasions with good success and in about 20-40 mins.

Acronis is not free except for a 30 day trial. I started with the 2009 version, upgraded to 2012 and due to Windows 10 incompatibility recently updated to 2016 version which has the improved interface.

Acronis has saved my butt more than once. I have also used it to store image while beta testing Win 7, Win 8, Win10 before MS released to public. I keep an older Dell PC around as a 'test system'.

Anyway - didn't mean to make this all about backups but you were kind to point me to some free products I was not aware of and will make a note. For now I recommend Acronis True Image Home 2016 to those who inquire. It is always in the top 3 list for backup software; has many versions for business and home and costs are reasonable.

Take it slow man, smell the roses and keep on keepin' on...your assistance has been noted and appreciated.

 

Dalchina - if you are still around...a followup to the problem we worked on and resolved.

Many of the 'Metro or Modern' apps no longer display and no longer launch. Instead, several MS Win 10 apps are now listed in OTHER in the start menu. When you look you see they all start with @Microsoft... and the tiles where they used to be are either gone or blank. When one hovers over the blank ones the same @Microsoft... path displays.

I have run SFC /SCANNOW and WSRESET to no avail. I sent in Windows Feedback but I have not initiated a MS chat session for help as yet for those can take a very long time and often they just recommend you to "Refresh PC" which is tedious and pretty much makes you reinstall all non-MS apps.

The broken ones include Calculator, Store, DVD player, Maps, Phone Companion, Messaging, People, Alarms, Photos, Media Center... see screenshot for examples.

One option I have is to reimage either Feb. or Jan. partition image which also requires hours of work to update windows and tweak settings and MAY put me back to 100% busy disk again.

Thought I would present this and see if you have any magic to offer? Given the time difference I will be patient and thanks in advance if you have time and inclination to engage on this one. Larry

 

Hi, you've probably run the repair Powershell command which from build 10586 breaks many.
This has been commented on many times here.

If you're lucky, you have a relevant restore point. Or, as you know, restore from an appropriate disk image.

There's a terribly technical way to fix this explicitly:

Windows 10 apps not working - Download apps folder - All things technical - tips tricks

which I post purely for - well- interest. You don't want to do that.

The alternative is an in-place upgrade repair install (See the Tutorials section), which basically provides a new copy of build 10586.

This
- keeps all your programs
- keeps most of your associations
- disables system restore (again)
- creates Windows.old
- means you need to redo the latest cumulative Windows update and anything else
- takes up to (say) 2 hours excluding download time - depends on hardware.
- may mean you need to reconfigure your WiFi connection

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did run that Powershell applet before I read that it has caused problems! Hmmm...I see two system restore points that pre-date the problem so thanks for suggestion. Not too hot to go there yet.

The MS apps are an inconvenience that I may just live with and get some equivalent apps downloaded like VLC for a DVD player; a Calculator app, and so on...I do have other computers in house to use if needed.

I am going to think about it for a bit. Thanks Dalchina for your time.

 

Following the work above: Resolving the high disk usage left me with several disabled Modern Apps. as you can read above.

So today I rebuilt the laptop by recovering (re-imaging) Feb. full image backup successfully. All Modern Apps. work properly. The high disk usage already existed on that date so I had to resolve the issue again.

What finally seemed to resolve it was:
SETTINGS>SYSTEM>NOTIFICATIONS & ACTIONS> TURN OFF SHOW ME WINDOWS TIPS.

Immediately the disk settled down and runs normal now - between 1-6% active when idle.

To be fair I also turned off Windows Defender and installed Avast Antivirus (Free) instead but I believe the Settings actions above resolved it this time. Hope this helps someone. Best to all.